A radical shift in home-owning patterns means the majority of retired people now own the home they live in and want a greater choice of housing to suit their next move.

A radical shift in home-owning patterns means the majority of retired people now own the home they live in and want a greater choice of housing to suit their next move.

This new generation of home-owning older people ? known as Hoopies ? is here to stay and is a force to be reckoned with, according to an independent report published this month.

Among the retired population, home-owners now outnumber tenants for the first time since records began.

The figure is set to rise to 75pc in 2010 and to continue growing for at least a decade after that, says the report by the centre for policy on ageing (CPA).

In what is described as ?the most significant demographic shift of the post-war years,? Hoopie numbers continue to grow along with the rising age profile of the population as a whole.

Hoopies typically have most of their wealth tied up in houses which may become too large and unmanageable once their children have left home.

They are also more likely than their forebears to have moved house several times in their lives and to be open to the idea of moving to a smaller property if it suits their needs.

Yet the CPA report, sponsored by Britain?s largest retirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone, finds that governments have until now failed to recognise the demand for a wider choice of housing among the over-65s.

Policy-makers tend to concentrate on housing for disadvantaged groups and ignore, or sometimes even resist, the need for housing to suit elderly home-owners on moderate incomes.

Keith Lovelock, Chief Executive of McCarthy & Stone, said: ?The CPA report clearly states that private sheltered housing has a very positive role to play as part of a holistic approach to the issue of housing of older people.

?It provides them with a secure home where they don?t have to worry about maintaining a large garden or household repairs, and where there is a degree of support available should they need it, in the form of a house manager and electronic security systems.

?Planners have for too long ignored the real needs and demands of older householders, as this report makes abundantly clear. Now, perhaps, they will start to listen.?